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Paper Flower How-To: Spring Belles

I made these flowers to give to my mom for a spring family dinner this week. They are made from thick double-sided crepe and look sweet and simple in glass vases. They would also look charming planted in pots filled with foam and covered with paper grass. I think their bowing heads, speckled leaves, and bright green stems are a nod (especially this year) to the welcome sight of the first flowers of spring. Our daughter helped paint the green crepe paper for the leaves with a kid’s texture brush.

1. Dilute the Granny Smith craft paint with a little bit of water in a container. It should be thin enough to flow well, and thick enough to not be overly watery. Cut 2 folds wide each of assorted green double-sided crepe papers. Lay the pieces on paper towels and “paint” them on both sides by blotting the texture brush all over in a random pattern. Set aside to dry. If the paint sinks in and seems to go away, add more paint to your mixture to thicken it up. The colors of the crepe will blend with the paint to make different color spots. Enlist the help of a little one with this step if desired!2. Glue a spun-cotton ball to the end of a length of floral wire, then paint with the diluted Granny Smith paint and let dry.3. Using our petal template #134 cut 3 petals each from assorted double-sided crepe colors. Crepe paper grain runs with height. Using a skewer, gently curl both petal tips on a diagonal around the skewer as shown.4. Cut three 2.5″ lengths of green floral tape. Scrunch the bottom 1/2″ of the base of the first petal as shown, and pinch it slightly. Attach the bottom 1/2″ of the first petal to the base of the ball, as shown, by gathering the base of the petal while holding it tightly to the base of the stem, and wrapping a piece of floral tape tightly around to secure it. Pull gently on the floral tape as you secure the petal to release the adhesive in the tape. Wrap the tape at first around the top portion of the base of the petal, and then tightly down the stem, with the tape moving on a diagonal. If your first try isn’t tight enough, remove the tape and try again with a new piece. The tape must be as tight as possible, so the petals will not pull out or fall out. Repeat step 8 with the second petal followed by the third petal, adding them at 1/3rd intervals around the center, so all 3 petals are spaced evenly around the stem. Gently “Cup” the center of the petal to create a slight bell shape. Use your fingers to gently pull the folds of the grain apart to create dimension. Do this very gently so you don’t pull the petals out from the tape, or rip the paper.5. Finish the stem with a long piece of floral tape. Begin at the base of the flower, and wrap the tape tightly around and down on a diagonal as you spin the stem with your opposite hand. Continue to pull on the tape gently as you work, and wind it all the way to the bottom of the wire. Twist the end and trim. Curve the stem around a bottle of glue or a can to style it.6. Using our leaf template #62 cut 3 leaves from assorted painted green double-sided crepe paper. Scrunch the the bottom 1/2″ of the base of each leaf. Cut an 8″ length of green floral tape.7. Attach the first leaf about 5″ from the base of the stem with the tape, and continue adding the additional leaves as you wind the tape down the stem, spacing them about 1/2″ to 1″ apart. Pinch the tape and score at the end with your fingernail to keep it from unravelling. Gently curl the leaf tips with your fingers.

10 comments on > Paper Flower How-To: Spring Belles

Hi! We are able to download the template fine. Not sure what’s going on? All templates are located under “Templates” in the left-navigation column. Currently this project template is the only one. We’re working on more how-tos, stay tuned! On a Mac pdfs usually open in the browser unless you right-click on the link and specify a download location.